1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to the reduction of discharge recoil in a firearm.
2. Description of the Related Art
Since perhaps the thirteenth century when the first firearm was reportedly built, individuals have sought to reduce the discharge recoil and make firearms more manageable to discharge. The primary methods for accomplishing recoil reduction have followed two fundamental paths. The first method utilizes a muzzle brake and/or compensator. The muzzle brake was first employed on firearms during World War II and has been used since then as the primary method for firearm recoil reduction. There are several recent patents concerning muzzle brakes/compensators including: U.S. Pat. No. 4,715,140 by inventor Fred Rosenwald concerning a compensator for handguns, U.S. Pat. No. 5,036,747 by inventor Harry T. McClain III concerning a muzzle brake, U.S. Pat. No. 5,367,940 by inventor Henry A. Taylor concerning a combined muzzle brake, muzzle climb controller and noise redirector for firearms.
The principle upon which a muzzle brake functions is the creation of a force opposite to the discharge force through a mechanism to redirect gas flows from the end of the firearm barrel. A muzzle brake traditionally embodies a chamber attached to the end of the firearm barrel with a series of holes at an angle to the bore of the firearm. Upon discharge of the firearm, the projectile or bullet approaches the end of the barrel where the muzzle brake is attached. At this stage of the firing sequence, relatively high pressure gas is traveling down the barrel immediately behind the bullet at or near the velocity of the bullet. As the bullet or projectile passes through the muzzle brake, a portion of the gas trailing the bullet redirected through the holes in the chamber. The change in direction of the high pressure/high velocity gas causes a reaction force on the barrel which has a component that acts opposite to the recoil force. The resulting net force transferred through the firearm decreases as the muzzle brake induced force partially balances or cancels the discharge force.
The drawbacks to the muzzle brakes are two fold: first, the muzzle brake is limited to a 25 to 45 percent reduction in total recoil force. On large firearms, the reduction in recoil force required to make the firearm manageable often exceeds what is possible. The second problem with muzzle brakes is the magnitude and amplification of the noise that is created by the redirection of the gases as the pass through the chamber. Additionally, when the high pressure high velocity gas is redirected through the muzzle brake chamber, it is directed radially outward from the muzzle such that a larger area around the point of discharge is exposed to the redirected noise.
Another method for reducing recoil is a by-product of the chambering-firing-ejecting action developed for semi-automatic firearms. The first semi-automatic firearm was invented by John M. Browning in the 1890""s. He invented several versions of automatic actions implemented on shot guns, rifles and handguns. While each type of firearm had a specific action, the general operational principles were the same. Like the muzzle brake, these automatic actions have been in use for long time and have been the subject of previous patents. Two recent patents of semi-automatic firearms are U.S. Pat. No. 4,892,026 by inventor Friedrich Aigner concerning a handheld automatic firearm, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,889,032 by inventor William J. Major concerning an automatic firearm. The principal behind the automatic firearm is the use of the reaction force of the high pressure gas developed upon discharge initiation to move the chambering mechanism and cartridge backward culminating in the ejection of the cartridge. Because the sliding mechanism moves at a force lower than the recoil force it results in a lower net force experienced by the person discharging the firearm.
The major problem with an automatic action is that it is inefficient in reducing total recoil force. Because the system is designed with the intent of ejecting a shell and not reducing recoil, the recoil reduction is not as large as it could be. A second problem results from the fact that it is an semi-automatic firearm; existing actions such as the single shot, bolt action, lever action, pump actions can not be adapted to benefit from the inherent reduction in recoil force.
The present invention solves the force reduction limitations of both the muzzle brake/compensator and the automatic/semi-automatic actions. It yields no increase in noise level or change in noise direction while reducing the total discharge recoil force. When tuned for a specific firearm, it can be very effective in reducing the net recoil force to a fraction of the initial recoil force. It can be applied to any firearm design including the single shot, pump action, bolt action and semi-automatic designs of all types of firearms including shotguns, rifles and pistols. It is specific to recoil force magnitude reduction. Its design is based on distributing the total recoil energy over time resulting in lower total magnitude of recoil force. It can be tuned or optimized to each firearm and the corresponding design criteria are based on the desired total recoil reduction. The invention can be used in conjunction with a muzzle brake/compensator, a semi-automatic firearm or other mechanisms designed to reduce the net recoil force.
In one embodiment, a barrel with a cartridge chamber is slidably connected to a frame, which has a shock absorber, spring or other dampening device connected to both the frame and the barrel. As the firearm is discharged the reaction force of the high pressure gas causes the barrel to slide relative to the frame. As the barrel slides, the shock absorber (or spring or other dampening device) is activated by the relative motion between the frame and the sliding barrel. The shock absorber consumes energy and distributes the discharge force over a tunable period of time resulting in a decrease in the peak magnitude of the recoil force.
In another embodiment, the stock of the firearm is separated into two pieces which are slidably connected to each other with a shock, spring or other dampening device connected to both pieces. As the firearm is discharged the reaction force of the high pressure gas causes the two pieces of the stock to slide relative to each other. As the stock pieces slide, the shock absorber (or spring or other dampening device) is activated by the relative motion between the pieces. The shock absorber consumes energy and distributes the discharge force over a tunable period of time resulting in a decrease in the peak magnitude of the recoil force.
In a fourth embodiment, the chamber containing the cartridge is slidably connected to the firearm frame with a shock, spring or other dampening device connected to both the firearm and the chamber. As the firearm is discharged the reaction force of the high pressure gas causes the chamber to slide relative to the frame. As the stock pieces slide, the shock absorber (or spring or other dampening device) is activated by the relative motion between the chamber and the frame. The shock absorber consumes energy and distributes the discharge force over a tunable period of time resulting in a decrease in the peak magnitude of the recoil force.
In another embodiment, a barrel with a cartridge chamber is slidably connected to a frame, which has a shock absorber, spring or other dampening device connected to both the frame and the barrel and the barrel end has a muzzle brake or compensator attached. As the firearm is discharged the reaction force of the high pressure gas causes the barrel to slide relative to the frame. As the barrel slides, the shock absorber (or spring or other dampening device) is activated by the relative motion between the frame and the sliding barrel. The shock absorber consumes energy and distributes the discharge force over a tunable period of time resulting in a decrease in the peak magnitude of the recoil force. Additionally, the muzzle brake/compensator redirects the high pressure/high velocity gas as it passes through the brake chamber resulting in an additional reduction in net recoil force. This embodiment illustrates the use of the current invention concurrent with one of the other recoil reduction mechanisms. The current invention can be used concurrently with automatic/semi-automatic actions, muzzle brakes/compensators and recoil pads to incrementally reduce the net recoil force.